Photography (MFA) eLearning
- MFA
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Overview

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A world leading MFA in Photography taught online by Belfast School of Art.

Summary

This innovative online master's uses colllaborative and dialogical technology to make our award winning MFA accessible for photographers working outside of Ireland. The course brings together practicing photographers from Europe, North America and Asia to develop new approaches to contemporary photographic practice. Online seminars and critiques are complemented by annual master classes on three continents.

Profiled by the British Journal of Photography as one of the most significant photography schools in Europe. Our graduates work internationally between the book, gallery, web and magazine, continually challenging photography’s place within contemporary society and the way we photograph now.

The teaching team consists of practising photographers, artists and theorists who exhibit and publish internationally. These include members of the prestigious Magnum photo agency, Martin Parr and Donovan Wylie, Northern Irish artists Professors Wilie Doherty and Paul Seawright and Dr KayLynn Deveney, Ken Grant, Clare Gallagher, Ailbhe Greaney and Peter Neill. The course is complemented by international guest lectures by leading photographers, historians, curators and writers. Close links with photographic galleries and photography festivals helps students to build networks and professional practice.

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About this course

About

The MFA Photography has an international reputation and is available for study on campus in Belfast (Thursday delivery) and fully online (eLearning) for students living and working outside Ireland. A Master of Fine Arts degree is a creative degree, which centers around practice in a particular field, in this case Photography. The qualification provides students with a high level of specialisation and allows graduates to teach at University level. There are optional exit points for students to exit with a PGDip or MA.

The MFA Photography degree exposes students to key critical debates in photography and offers a dynamic environment in which to develop a major body of photographic work for exhibition and publication. Staff are leaders in the field of photography. Internationally recognised photographers, artists and researchers regularly review student projects, give lectures and critique photographic work.

The course appeals to photographers who are serious about challenging their working methods and extending their visual vocabulary. The course has excellent links with galleries and museums and draws on an exemplary network of artists to create a study environment that is stimulating and encourages experimentation.

Structure & Content

The programme is delivered through a range of learning methods, including seminars, presentations, tutorials and group critiques, to enable students to acquire the cognitive skills of a self-reflexive independent learner.

Modules:

Semester I

Reviewing Practice (40 credits)

Photography and Culture: (20 credits)

Semester II

Contemporary Contexts (40 credits)

Photographic Futures (20 credits)

Optional Exit Award - PGDip (120 credit points)

Semester III

Master's Project (Involves a major piece of practical photography work with accompanying contextualisation. Creative written and photographic resolution of a major body of work is emphasised here.) (60 credits).

Optional Exit Award - MA (180 credit points)

Semester IV

Master's Project (Involves a major piece of practical photography work with accompanying dissertation. Resolution of the Master's Project through publication via book and/or exhibition is emphasised here.) (60 credits).

Final Award MFA (240 credit points)

Attendance

Students must access a number of online timetabled group sessions where they interact with tutors and peers in developmental critiques and subject themed seminars. The campus based lectures are available online to watch at times that suit the student. Reading packs and assignments are delivered digitally and assessment, feedback and tutorial advice is scheduled in weekly online sessions. Students are required to attend an annual regional masterclass - currently held in Hong Kong, Belfast and New York.

Entry Requirements

Applicants must hold:

i) a second class honours degree or higher from a university of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, from the Council for National Academic Awards, the National Council for Educational Awards, the Higher Education Training Awards Council, or from an institution of another country which has been recognised as being of an equivalent standard; or

In exceptional circumstances, where an individual has substantial and significant experiential learning, a portfolio of written evidence demonstrating the meeting of graduate abilities (including subject-specific outcomes, as determined by the Course committee) may be considered as an alternative entrance route. Evidence used to demonstrate graduate qualities may not be used for exemption against modules within the programme.

In all cases applicants must provide a portfolio of practical work at interview or on application.

English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicantsThe minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.

Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

Teaching and learning assessment

The teaching, learning and assessment is developed and delivered through several modes:

Reviewing Practice

The course is orientated around an initial review of student practice and re-visiting key debates in photographic history and theory. This facilitates the development of two project proposals to initially be developed in parallel for review at the end of the first semester.

Weekly lectures and online seminars are delivered along with individual tutorials:

To enable you to develop different conceptual models of practice

To enable you to test a variety of different modes of production and resolution

To enable you to extend the parameters of your own research and make use of appropriate methodologies and techniques

To enable you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your practice

Tutorials

Regular individual tutorials provide you with the opportunity to discuss in depth conceptual and practical concerns around your work. They provide an opportunity for a considered discussion of ongoing work and an analysis of feedback and responses to work to date.

Lectures

Lectures are used to deliver key information and material related to research methodologies and professional practice. Lectures are delivered by staff and invited experts/visiting lecturers from relevant professional fields. Students are expected to use the lectures as a starting point for more intensive and focused study appropriate to their own practice.

Seminars

Seminars are used to develop your knowledge of, and ability to employ the theoretical tools required for critical analysis in cultural practice. This method of teaching is designed to build confidence in oral communication, and to encourage learning through group discussion and debate.

Student Presentations

Student presentations are used to encourage you to undertake independent critical appraisal of your studio practice and its cultural context in order to make use of material presented in lectures and seminars. You are expected to make effective use of research material and to organise and deliver an oral presentation using audio/visual or image/text components.

Online Critiques

Online critiques are used to provide you with an opportunity to evaluate critically the work of your fellow students and to receive critical responses to your own work. Studio critiques are led by a number of core staff and visiting professionals whose role is to encourage the active participation of all students and to contribute to the critical discussion.

Feedback

Feedback is a very valuable element in the course delivery and takes many forms as formative and summative feedback. It is important that you realise that feedback is a two-way activity and that education and art making are part of a continual process of evaluation, feedback and adjustment. This may be between tutor/student, student/tutor, student/student or art-work/artist. Its value is not underestimated and it occurs throughout most forms of delivery but especially in the critiques and tutorials and assessment process.

Careers & opportunities

Career options

Graduates are prepared for advanced careers in the field of photography. Graduates work as photographers in the fine art and commercial sector, as well as industry professionals. An MFA develops the ability to perform research related to the photographic arts, while also building communication skills and introducing students to new aesthetics and new technology. Such key skills enable graduates to work as photographic curators, editors and critics, within museums, galleries and in publishing. MFA graduates may also pursue a career in education.

Apply

All applicants must submit a digital portfolio to be discussed in a telephone interview. Applications are received throughout the year. The majority of interviews take place between January and May, with exceptional late submissions considered between June and September.

Applicants are encouraged to apply early and to contact the course director with any questions: pk.grant@ulster.ac.uk.

Start dates

Fees and funding

Fees (total cost)

Important notice - fees information
Fees illustrated are based on 18/19 entry and are subject to an annual increase. Correct at the time of publishing. Terms and conditions apply. Additional mandatory costs are highlighted where they are known in advance. There are other costs associated with university study.
Visit our Fees pages for full details of fees

Additional mandatory costs

Students may wish to attend international seminars or 'meeting points' at certain points throughout the course. These initiatives are aligned to the research projects and are always optional.

Tuition fees and costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges), and normal living are a part of university life.

Where a course has additional mandatory expenses we make every effort to highlight them. These may include residential visits, field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering) inoculations, security checks, computer equipment, uniforms, professional memberships etc.

We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free wifi is also available on each of the campuses.

There will be some additional costs to being a student which cannot be itemised and these will be different for each student. You may choose to purchase your own textbooks and course materials or prefer your own computer and software. Printing and binding may also be required. There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines. Additional costs vary from course to course.

Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs as well as tuition fees.